Hearing Ichibe's words, some Shinigami drew their Zanpakuto, ready to act.
Unohana commanded, "Everyone, stop!"
Feeling the pressure from the Captain-Commander, no one dared to move.
With both sides presenting conflicting accounts, Unohana found it difficult to discern the truth, but she was more inclined to believe Shin.
Seeing this, Ichibe roared in fury, "What?! Are you, the Gotei 13, also rebelling?!"
Unohana retorted, "Rebelling? Rebelling against whom?"
"Against Lord Soul King, of course!" Ichibe said without hesitation.
Unohana calmly stated, "You say Shin conspired with Aizen, but Shin claims he learned everything from the Soul King, and what I see is Aizen dealing with Yhwach."
"Hey, bald old man, what exactly is going on?"
Ichigo was impatient, and the current situation left him bewildered, so he directly asked.
Ichibe and the Royal Guard had helped him, but his relationship with Shin was much closer.
Kirio also couldn't help but ask, "Monk, does the Soul King's will truly exist?"
The other four members of the Royal Guard had been promoted from below. They were responsible for guarding the Soul King, but they had never actually seen the Soul King.
Everything they knew was told to them by Ichibe.
"Hahahahaha!"
Facing the crowd's interrogation, Ichibe laughed instead of getting angry.
"The Soul King, the Soul King, the Soul King... he's nothing but a pitiful creature sealed away. What will could he possibly have?"
Ichibe had never been willing to be subservient, but in the face of the Soul King's absolute power, he was completely helpless. Even his power of 'Black' was bestowed upon him by the Soul King.
It wasn't until the Soul King willingly allowed himself to be sealed that Ichibe sought to seize his power and replace him, but he found he couldn't. He could only lurk in the shadows, secretly manipulating the world in the Soul King's name, until Yhwach's appearance gave him hope once more.
"Given the circumstances, I'll just have to bury all of you here." Ichibe's face was distorted, completely lacking his former good-natured appearance.
An extremely powerful black Reiatsu erupted from his body, many times stronger than what he had shown before.
"Sever"
A large black character was written in the air behind Yhwach and Aizen.
The others were all shocked to hear Ichibe's words.
Shin, meanwhile, attacked "Sever."
"Monk, what do you mean?" The four members of the Royal Guard questioned him in unison.
Ichibe completely ignored them, waving his brush, and a large amount of ink surged out, accumulating in the air, finally transforming into black raindrops falling down.
Feeling that something was wrong, everyone quickly used their abilities to defend themselves, but many Shinigami, Quincy, and Arrancar present were stained by the black rain.
Everyone stained by the black rain experienced the same condition as Yhwach earlier: losing their names and their powers.
The Shinigami, seeing Ichibe's true colors, began to denounce him, with some, like Zaraki, directly attacking him.
"Royal Guard!"
At Ichibe's shout, the four members of the Royal Guard instantly appeared before him, blocking the attacks for him.
But the four of them had looks of horror on their faces.
"What's going on?"
Shin stopped attacking "Sever" at this point and stood beside Unohana.
Ichibe glanced at Shin and said disdainfully, "Do you think joining the Royal Guard comes without a price? Is immortality that easy to achieve? My will is something you simply cannot defy."
"Go!"
As soon as Ichibe's words fell, countless divine soldiers surged out from the five Zero Division Riden, along with a large number of materialized Zanpakuto, attacking the Shinigami alongside the four members of the Royal Guard.
Kaname, seeing the change in circumstances, led the four Espada to attack the Sternritter.
Haschwalth was about to make a move but was blocked by Uryū.
At this moment, the entire Soul King Palace descended into chaos.
Shin was pondering how Ichibe had managed to control the other members of the Royal Guard.
Ichibe glanced at the chaotic battlefield, then turned and sneered, "Shin, how's my 'Sever'?"
He had seen Shin attack "Sever" to no avail.
Shin replied, "The turtle shell is very hard."
"The space where Aizen and Yhwach are located has been separated by me. Once Yhwach kills Aizen and absorbs the Soul King, everything will be over."
In Ichibe's opinion, Aizen was no match for an awakened Yhwach.
Shin said, "Then let's wait and see."
Then, he turned to Ikaros behind him and said, "Ikaros, do you see those five large plates in the air? Go shoot them down."
Shin guessed that the control over the other Royal Guard members might be related to the Riden, which were their fundamental existence.
"Yes, Master."
Ikaros entered combat mode and flew into the air.
Ichibe glanced at Ikaros but did not try to stop her.
"If you think you can easily destroy the Riden, you are gravely mistaken."
Shin trusted Ikaros and said, "If you underestimate Ikaros, that would be the grave mistake."
Ikaros fired several missiles, which were blocked by a suddenly appearing protective barrier just before hitting their targets.
Seeing this, Shin quipped, "You really have a lot of turtle shells."
However, he didn't believe a few barriers could withstand Ikaros's relentless bombardment.
"Come on, let me see how powerful you, this old schemer who has hidden for a million years, truly are."
"Boy, don't just rely on your glib tongue."
With that, Ichibe waved his brush, and an overwhelming blackness enveloped Shin, like a black ocean.
Prokinesis!
Countless scorching fireballs instantly solidified, engaging in a clash of light and darkness with the black ocean.
The fireballs, capable of vaporizing anything they touched, were swallowed by the encroaching blackness.
Phantasmagoria!
Shin's attack failed, and he pulled Ichibe into the barrier.
Ichibe's gaze sharpened as he looked at the unchanging scenery around him. "This isn't the Soul King Palace?"
"That's right."
Shin could make the Phantasmagoria change scenes at will.
"Boy, I already know your tricks and abilities. What is this now?" Ichibe's expression darkened.
How could he not investigate Shin, this sudden variable?
He had long known all of Shin's previous abilities, which was one of the reasons he confidently dared to overturn the situation.
Shin laughed aloud.
No matter how much Ichibe racked his brain, he couldn't possibly understand Shin's situation.